{"id":342307,"date":"2021-12-13T14:42:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T13:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optimal-systems.de\/?p=342307"},"modified":"2026-07-03T12:45:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T10:45:34","slug":"why-multilingual-ecm-matters-and-how-to-actually-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.optimal-systems.de\/en\/digitalization\/blog\/why-multilingual-ecm-matters-and-how-to-actually-do-it","title":{"rendered":"Why multilingual ECM matters and how to actually do it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Why multilingual ECM matters and how to actually do it<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

by Viola Ganter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

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Among the most common international surnames<\/a>, you will find names like \u201cJ\u00f3nsd\u00f3ttir\u201d (Iceland), \u201cM\u00fcller\u201d (Germany), and \u201cSat\u014d\/\u4f50\u85e4\u201d (Japan). Each of these names contains letters that are not found in the English alphabet. Meaning: Every person with that name will at some point in their life have had issues filling out an online form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multilingual software development is only just starting to catch up with a highly interconnected global market. What seems like a mere nuisance for individuals becomes a major challenge for enterprises with a linguistically diverse staff or customer base. From web interfaces that can\u2019t display characters to search engines that cannot understand the syntax of a query \u2013 global companies have their work cut out for them when it comes to multilingual enterprise content management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do we need multilingual ECM?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Global trade has grown exponentially in the last century, and with it the need to manage companies across country borders. Exported goods make up close to 25 percent of the GDP worldwide, and about 30 percent of the value of global exports come from foreign inputs<\/a>, leading to increasingly complex and globalized production chains. This means, invoices, waybills, customs declarations, hotel bills, and many more need to be made accessible across the world, while both staff and customer base become more and more linguistically diverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less than 20 percent of the world\u2019s population speaks English<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While English is currently the most widely spoken language on earth, with as much as 1.35 billion<\/a> people having at least a rudimentary understanding of the language, this still amounts to less than a fifth of the worldwide popuplation. When it comes to first-language speakers, the number is as low as 360 million, with Mandarin being the most common native language in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be effective in a multinational firm, a content management system must be able to<\/p>\n\n\n\n